Towards reality and away from blind acceptance: Changes in the attitude of public house bar staff to their exposure to second hand tobacco smoke in the work-place since the announcement of legislative measures

Attitudes of bar staff to second hand tobacco smoke in the workplace were investigated in 2001 by means of a questionnaire. At that time, government policy favoured voluntary agreements with the hospitality industry. In 2006, when policy had changed and legislation was imminent, the same questionnaire was used to measure the change in attitude over the five-year period. The main findings were:

• bar staff had become significantly less tolerant of second hand smoke between 2001 and 2006.

• bar staff who smoked had become significantly more supportive of the introduction of a smoking policy by 2006

• the significant majority considering a smoking policy to be impractical in 2001 had disappeared by 2006.

• in 2006 it was still the majority view that smoking was an integral part of pub life and that smoking policies would interfere with customers' enjoyment.

The message is therefore that there has been significant movement towards acceptance of a ban on smoking in the workplace. Enforcement of this ban, however, could be difficult in view of the still widespread view that smoking and public houses have some sort of special relationship.